The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-21
THOSE CORONADO COWBOYS.
How it Was that They Freshened Up
Things in a Funny Way.
From the Netc YORK. World.


ago on the Supreme Court at Topeka, to eff
feet the release of the fourteen citizens of
Coronado confined here and at Garden City
for the killing at their town, on Feb. 70, of
certain obnoxious citizens of Leoti
The fight was an outcome of politics, some
what seasoned with local beverages. Be
tween Coronado and Leoti the relations had
| for some time been severely strained, owing
to rivalry for county seat honors, and
thoughtful and far-seeing citizens predicted
| bad weather ahead unless the differences
could be adjusted.
| The cowboys interest in politics is lively,
but narrow. He does not care which side
has the best platform, or who the candidates
are, OF what they propose doing. All his
interest in campaign is to iven things up,
dispense red paint and surgical maladies and
have red-hot time with the boys.
To freshen upthis particular campaign,
! two playful cowboys Of Leoti, Mr.. Charley
| Coulter, his friend, Mr.. Frank Raines, and
five festive friends got into the habit of rid
ing over to Coronado and ''rounding-up'
the town To roundup town is much
funnier than to paint it red, and requires
the exercise of more ingenuity and a more
lavish flow of spirits ''Rounding-up' is a
term used to express the driving of heard
together, the cowboys riding around the
cattle, yelling and cracking whips until
they gather in a mass and the beasts are
docile. Rounding in its social sense,
means to gather the citizens of town into
a similarly frightened bunch and have fun
with them.
Mr.. Charley Coulter was the wit of
Wichita county. He had a light and frolic-
some revolver, and his repartee with that
| facetious toy was famous throughout the
section. He also was the inventive genius
of Leoti, and most of the celebrated jokes
| of that cheerful town were the evolution of
Mr.. Coulters fancy. About one year ago
the naughty and exclusive lotteries of Hays
City astonished the natives by getting up
skating rink. Mr.. Coulter promptly Or
gained a party They rode over, entered
| the rink horseback, and shot the lights out
with revolvers. He then intiinated TO the
manager of the rink, who had just come to
| Kansas, that if the rink was opened again
there would be something besides the lights
shot out. The manager sold out the fol-
| lowing morning at auction and went trav
cling for his health. He said there was too
much humor in Hays City.
Mr.. Coulter then turned his attention to
local politics, and wisely considered that if
he and William Raines, with half a dozen
others, would ride over to Coronado every
night or so and either paint it red or green,
| with an occasional roundup by way of va
riety, it would throw a spice into the cam
paign and relieve the dullneSS which had
prevailed. The plan was put into effect
| with excellent results of enlivenment. Not
even the most bLaSe man could complain
now that life in Coronado was monotonous.
Sometimes an evening would be dull. and
nothing stirring, perhaps only one or two
commonplace shoOtings that day to discuss
| and the knot OF eminent citizens would be
almost nodding by the saloon fire, for lack
of conversational material, when with a
| whOop Mr.. Coulter would dash through the
door, horseback, followed by his friends,
and infuse an activity and life into the
| scene that was marvellous
| Again sometimes when he was least ex-
pected, Mr. Coulter and his gay party would
ride at breakneck speed through the town at
9 or 10 o'clock at night, shooting en- PEASANT
through every window which displayed
| light and the citizen taking his annual bath
or repeating his Now lay me-" would get
sudden and abnormal calibre-45 apertures in
his vitals which were both surprising and
unwelcome; and whereas the undertaken,
| who had boiler-iron shutters and slept in the
back part of the house, smiled approvingly
on Mr.. Coulter's frolcs the insurance COM
panies and the Widows Mutual Benefit As
ISOLATION began to complain.
The campaign was now beginning to
warm up, and the press began to take a
hand. The editor of the Leoti Standard, a
powerful journal devoted to the cause, gave
playful account of Mr.. Coulter's last red
paint exploit in Coronado, and the Coro-
nado Star bristled next day with the points
of an ironical reply. The Standard then
paused to pleasantly remark that the editor
of the Star was a chicken-livered jackass
who was too fond of shooting off his mouth
and the latter, without denying that he was
the anatomical prodigy i'll question replied
that he would be quite willing to shoot
something else off if occasion arose, and
that the editor of the Standard was a
pusllanimous balloon. These pleasantries
naturally led to further discussion of the
question, and to the weekly issue of the two
great sheets was attached an unusual inter-
est.
Although not a professional journalist
| Mr.. Coulter bethought him it would be
funny to give the Coronado Star an ex-
elusive item of news-one of those things
dear to the heart of an editor and some
| times called a SCOOP With this kindly
purpose in view, he rode over to Coronado
i in company with Raines and mutual
friend, dismounted at the Star office and in
quired if Mr.. Sykes, the editor, was in. Mr.
Sykes was in. An urbane minion led the
way to Mr.. Sykes sanctum. Mr. Sykes
was just writing powerful leader on THE
Progress of Civilization in Kansas" when
his visitors entered In half minute he
glanced up and found himself looking down
the barrel of Mr. Coulter's revolver with
one eye and the barrel of Mr. Raine's re-
volver with the other. The muzzles looked to
be the size of a -four barrel, and away at the
other end of each Mr.. Sykes could see that
the bullets were holding caucus trying to
make up their minds where they would hit
him. Mr.. Coulter courteously requested
him to stand up. He stood Mr. Raines
requested him to throw up his hands. He
threw them up. He wonld have thrown up
his commission or his breakfast or his I'M
mortal soul on the same invitation. Then
the mutual friend drew out that variety of
ticker known as "black snake" and pro
ceeded to warm the editorial legs, stimulate
the editorial spine and generally tickle the
editorial anatomy from head to foot Then,
when weary of Mr.. Sykes capers under this
treatment Mr.. Coulter and his friends de-
parted, leaving him to the enjoyment of his
exclusive news and to write up the long-de-
sired scoop on his envious contemporaries
Five days after this little episode came
the last burst of Mr. Coulter's humor in
which, unfortunately, his brilliant and use
full career was brought to close. On Sun
day morning, Feb. 26, Mr.. Raines and
friend named johnson rode over and in
formed certain influential citizens of Coro-
nado that they would pay them a social call
| later in tho 1oV and would subsequently,,